Modern communication centers are becoming multimedia-capable and often service both analog and various forms of digital media interactions and transactions. In order to service a large public client base, state-of-the-art telecommunications equipment, software applications, and various dedicated servers are compiled and integrated with state-of-the-art software platforms. In addition to managing very high levels of communication events of various media types, internal management duties must be performed within the center itself. Such duties include tracking and managing historical data, client data, product data, service personnel data, and center configuration data. Moreover, many communication center hosts have multiple service sites that are connected through networks both analog and digital.
Parts of the system are distributed, for example, to agent desktop terminals for contact management. Servers are provided to facilitate transactions in different media types such as chat, e-mail, and so on. Parts of the system are distributed to telephony switches to provide intelligent routing and client interaction capability both from within the system and in some cases into event-sponsoring networks. The system is automated in many respects and updates to configuration parameters of the system are made periodically to add new equipment, reconfigure agent desktop applications, re-assign personnel to various duties, configure local telephony switches for agent level routing, and other duties.
A drawback to this system is that it is mostly internally administered using proprietary code and is platform-dependant. Communication-center administrators access the configuration server through an application program interface from a local area network that is typically Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) enabled. The system is not suitable for third-party integration of center configuration data with other third-party management facilities such as customer relations management (CRM) applications.
Thus, a need still remains for a call center system with assisted-configuration. In view of the increased reliance on call centers for support and emergency response, it is increasingly critical that answers be found to these problems. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is critical that answers be found for these problems. Additionally, the need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.